Episode 1207 - 14 Chefs Compete
The seventh episode of Season 12 of Hell's Kitchen aired on Fox, on April 24, 2014. On that episode, pizza was the main dish, an Italian Family Night dinner service took place, and one chef wasted a lot of ingredients on what should have been an easy dish. Intro While going back to the dorms, Joy dismissed the men’s victory as her concern was the women, while Sandra knew her team was gunning for her elimination. Kashia would have liked Sandra to go that night, and asked how she was going to get rid of the demon, while Sandra asked the women to let her know if she was not acting like a team player. However, Kashia and Joy told Sandra they tried to tell her multiple times before, but she acted like it was her own business. Despite that, Sandra felt she was a better chef than her teammates and refused to roll over, while Kashia and Joy wanted the former the next out. Team challenge The next day, both teams came downstairs as Ramsay explained that a great chef must be proficient in multiple techniques, before introducing them to Michael Tesler. However, Tesler revealed to be an eight-year-old boy which made everybody laugh, but Ramsay warned them they would not be laughing after seeing what Tesler’s extraordinary skill was. Tesler revealed that he was a master pizza dough tosser, amazing everybody as he did multiple tricks, and after, Ramsay told them that while he did not expect them to be master pizza tossers, he expected them to be at their best for the Gourmet Pizza Challenge. Anton deemed it a personal challenge as making pizzas was how his family made a living. Both teams had 30 minutes to make their pizzas, and had to work in pairs, although both Rochelle and Ralph had to cook by themselves due to the odd numbers of their teams. The chefs had an array of over 100 ingredients at their deposal, and Richard felt he and Anton were the perfect pair as he was from Chicago, the latter was from New Jersey, and they were both Italian. In the red kitchen, Sandra was not sure of Melanie’s idea for their pizza, but the latter admitted that working with the former was a day she dreaded as Sandra was inexperienced and a non-team player. However, Sandra decided to keep her mouth shut due to her teammate’s comments, and hoped it would fucking work. 20 minutes left, Kashia and Bev found figs for their pizza, and when there were 15 minutes left, Anton reminded the men that a pizza took 10 minutes to cook. Ralph explained that because of his Irish heritage, he never had a gourmet pizza before, while Chris feared that his and Jason’s dough was too thin for the oven as it was starting to break when they tried to lift it. As they struggled to find extra dough, Chris did not want to be the guy who did not get a dish up and ready as Anton tried to help him and Jason get their second attempt ready. In the red kitchen, the women were in a traffic jam over the pizza oven as Joy felt Kashia was blocking the entrance, and was confused over what to do. In a rush, Joy began bringing up her pizza, but she accidentally hit the paddle on the sink, leading her to drop the pizza to the ground. Jessica was in disbelief that Joy screwed them as the two struggled to get their second attempt ready, but with very few fillings left, they were forced to make a mini pizza. In the blue kitchen, Anton continued to help Chris and Jason as Richard went over to Ralph’s station for assistance, but when the latter said he had no idea how to cook a pizza, Richard called him a moron. Eventually, both teams had their pizzas cooked and plated on time. Before the judging began, Ramsay asked both teams to drop a dish as he was judging only three. Melanie and Sandra saw that Kashia and Bev’s pizza was burnt, but the latter felt the former turned her nose in a snooty way. Despite that, the women dropped Kashia and Bev’s dish, but the former was upset that her team would rather serve Joy and Jessica’s slice of pizza rather than their full pizza. For the men, they dropped Jason and Chris’ dish, but when they announced to Ramsay the dropped dishes, Kashia was vocal on how she did not agree with that decision, while Jason and Chris explained that their dish was not properly composed. Wolfgang Puck was invited as a guest judge, stunning everybody as Sandra asked for the defibrillator, Joy explaining that she watched him on TV when she did not have cable, and Anton never thought in a million years he would meet Puck. Ramsay and Puck would each judge the pizzas on a 1-5 scale, and the team with the most points was the winner. Rochelle was the first women to have her pizza judged, and presented her spinach, mushroom, and crab pizza. Puck said he did not like the shape of the pizza, it was criticized for a thick and undercooked dough, but praised for a delicious sauce and crab. So, Rochelle scored 5 points, and for Ralph, his soperasal flatbread pizza with burrata and arugula looked funny due to cutting off the crust, and he scored 3 points, making it 5-3 for the women. On the second round, Joy and Jessica presented their skinny girl pizza, but both Puck and Ramsay said they would not be happy if they served it to them in a restaurant, which Kashia smugly said she told them, and they scored 4 points. For Scott and Gabriel, their lobster pizza, but despite the former feeling a little confident despite the nerves of cooking for Puck, the latter felt the lobster could have been cut into smaller pieces, and Ramsay was disappointed in the taste. So, the duo scored 5 points, and it was 9-8 for the women. On the final round, Sandra and Melanie presented their parmesan crispy prosciutto flatbread pizza with arugula, and the latter was confident that it would be great. However, while Puck liked the taste of the prosciutto, he noticed that the bottom was lightly colored, and the dough was nearly stretching on him. So, Sandra and Melanie scored a 3, and Kashia felt that its what they deserved. After, Anton and Richard presented their Mediterranean pizza with sautéed hot pepper, smoked salmon, and a sweet balsamic topping, with the former hoping that he succeeded. Puck was intrigued with the amount of ingredients, and after he and Ramsay tasted it, Anton and Richard scored 7 points, giving the men a 15-12 victory as Ramsay deemed it the only good pizza of the day, and Anton called it his moment. Out of curiosity, Ramsay asked Bev and Kashia to bring up their pizza, and it turned out to be delicious, making Ramsay question why it was dropped. Kashia said that the women felt it was burnt, but Puck said that it looked similar to one that was found in an Italian cookbook, and Ramsay saw no imperfections on the bottom, before revealing that he and Puck would have given it a total of 7 points, making it the women’s best dish. After, Bev felt righteous as her and Kashia’s pizza kicked Melanie’s pizzas’ ass. Reward The men were rewarded with a trip to the rooftop of the Andaz Hotel in Sunstet Strip with a surprise waiting for them, and while Jason was happy that they kicked ass, Anton left the group to have a moment to himself as their victory was an emotional one for himself, feeling he did his family proud as one of the greatest chefs in the world complimented his food. During the reward, the men relaxed on the rooftop pool side, Scott felt it was great to get outside and see Hollywood after being cooped up in the restaurant. Then, a yoga instructor came out, revealing she was going to give them a lesson to work out their zen, but Richard asked if he looked like a yoga guy. As the men did yoga with the instructor, Chris said he would love doing the downward dog with her any day of the week, Anton was infatuated with her, and Gabriel thanked Ramsay for a great reward. Punishment Ramsay revealed to the women that Hell’s Kitchen was opening for an Italian Family Night, and their punishment was to prep ravioli by hand, grate the cheese, and prep both kitchens for that night’s service. During the punishment, Kashia said that Melanie should really feel like shit after the challenge, even suggesting that the latter eat a super-sized piece of humble pie. During a break, Melanie wanted the women to bounce back during service, but Kashia told the latter she was sick of her attitude, especially towards her and Bev’s pizza. Melanie argued that she thought the figs were too big, but Kashia reminded her it was her decision on which pizzas would be judged, and that everybody went with that. However, Melanie called that shit as Ramsay was pushing them to decide and Kashia should have argued for it more, and did not feel too bad about that. Before service Later that night, the men came back from their reward and both teams began prepping for the Italian Family Night dinner service. Anton felt the men were in good spirits and very confident, while Ramsay asked Jean-Philippe to open Hell’s Kitchen. Dinner service For the Italian Family Night dinner service, the menu featured a selection of gourmet pizzas, and Ramsay’s family was in attendance that night. The men received their first order, and Chris wanted redemption after his poor performance in the challenge, but he ended up burning his first attempt and threw out his second attempt as the dough was not properly made. In the red kitchen, Kashia brought up her first pizza, but Rochelle needed 20 seconds for scallops as Ramsay yelled at her to speed up. As Rochelle hated getting yelled at by Ramsay, even calling him intimidating, she sent up scallops with one side raw, and Ramsay told Joy to show Rochelle how to cook scallops properly. Joy knew they should not get lagging on scallops and accused Rochelle of getting frazzled, before getting her attempt accepted. In the blue kitchen, Chris was still struggling on the pizzas as Scott told him his third attempt was burnt on the bottom, and Anton walked up only one order of scallops despite Richard not being ready with his. Then, Anton noticed that their bottle of oil was on the flat top, and when he picked it up, the bottom fell out due to the plastic being melted, causing a fire to erupt. Ramsay went and smothered it with a few extra aprons, and dismayingly asked how it could get any worse. In the red kitchen, Bev and Sandra worked together on the pizzas, but the former sent up a raw attempt due to an overly thick dough, with Sandra arguing she was just doing her job and it was up to Bev to finish it. However, Bev told Sandra to take responsibility for her actions. One hour into service, Richard got his refire accepted, but Scott decided to help Chris out as the later was still struggling on the pizzas. Unfortunately, the pizzas continued to come out burnt as Gabriel watched in disbelief, and the latter felt like they men were asses that night. When Gabriel sent up a pizza, it was burnt and black on the bottom, and a furious Ramsay took the former, Chris, and Scott into the back-pantry room demanding an explanation. Scott claimed that the pizzas were not cooking properly, but Ramsay told him to make the pizzas thinner. As the three went back into the kitchen, Scott said that every night was a challenge, but they had to find a way to push through. Anton tried to give Scott some pointers on the pizzas, but the latter ignored him despite Anton reminding him that he burned 15 already. In the red kitchen, Ramsay was still waiting of four kid sized pizzas, but Bev burned one of them, making Melanie upset as there were kids in the dinning room who were waiting. Joy told the women to have Bev off the pizza station so the same mistakes were not made, but Kashia refused to move as she did not want her ass on the line. Then, Bev sent up an improperly sliced pizza with a slice breaking apart, and while she blamed Kashia for making the dough too thin, Ramsay said that the kids deserved a stunning pizza. In the blue kitchen, the pizza debacle forced Ramsay to begin firing entrées, but Ralph sent up a raw ribeye, and Jason told him to put it in for another 15 seconds, believing that the former could not cook for shit. Then, Ralph sent up raw lamb with one piece sliced very thinly, which caused Ramsay to ask how he managed that, and Richard asked Ralph if he wanted Ramsay to lose his mind. In the red kitchen, Ramsay was still waiting on the four kid sized pizzas, but while Joy got more dough to help roll, Ramsay told her that they trashed more than they served. Joy knew the pizzas station was killing them as there was no reason for her to do both pizza and fish at the same time, and when Kashia grabbed the former’s dough, Jessica felt the latter was running like a chicken with its head cut off. After, Bev finally got the kid pizzas accepted. Two hours into service, Ralph’s refires were accepted. However, the pizza station continued to be a nightmare as Chris tossed out yet another attempt, and Gabriel felt his heart hurting to see the trashed pizzas as it was a kid not getting fed, even believing that they trashed 20 pizzas. To make matters worse, the men had no more dough on hand, and an infuriated Ramsay asked Chris and Scott how they were going to get through this as out of the 36 portions they made, only 10 pizzas were served. Scott was embarrassed over the debacle, while Chris apologized fucking Ramsay, before blaming Scott for bombing his station. Then, Ramsay called up Jean-Philippe and had him bring Scott and Chris to the affected tables to apologize, and the latter was embarrassed because he made pizzas with his family all the time. After Scott and Chris offered the table a replacement of spaghetti and meatballs, the women received Ramsay’s family order, much to Sandra’s dismay as she did not want to hear Ramsay scream at them for wrecking his family’s tickets. Fortunately, the order was accepted to Melanie’s relief, and both teams completed the service. Post-mortem After service ended, Ramsay asked Kashia and Chris to take all the thrown-out pizzas from the bins and lay them out for him, which Kashia knew was not good. Once lined up, Ramsay deemed that night a pizza massacre, and named the men the losers for having a horrible night on nearly every station. Ramsay asked them to nominate two people for elimination. During deliberation, Anton deemed that night a disaster as they were on top of the trash mountain, and said they were all garbage. Then, Anton said that anybody from the pizza station should be nominated that night, but while Chris argued that the pizzas were fucked from the start, they were not the only ones that made mistakes that night. Ralph claimed he had nothing sent back that night, but Gabriel asked if he was serious as the latter messed up on meat that night. Ralph argued that it was his first time on meat, while Jason nominated Scott for elimination which Gabriel agreed with. However, Scott argued that Chris should have had his station properly set up, but the latter argued that he only cooked three trashed pizzas out of the 26 that were thrown out even though Scott said that he was saying at what he saw. Even though Anton knew Scott and Chris screwed them that night, he felt Ralph also deserved to be nominated. Elimination Richard announced Chris as the men’s first nominee, and Scott as the second. During their pleas, Chris said he really wanted to stay more than anybody, and promised he would not struggle like he did that night, while Scott said he learned from his mistakes and doing everything he can do despite some stumbles. After, Ramsay said there was one more person he wanted to hear from, and called Ralph down to the front with the two nominees as his performance that night was dreadful. Ralph felt he did not screw up yet, but when Ramsay asked him why cooking lamb was so difficult, the former felt it was a careless mistake. However, Ramsay sarcastically thought Ralph did not make mistakes. In the end, Chris was eliminated for his disastrous performance on pizza, and during his exit interview, he felt his creativity was more than what his teammates saw, he felt his biggest mistake was allowing his teammates to help him, and ended by saying he got burned. After Chris left, Ramsay told the chefs to work together and adapt because that is what great chefs do. While being dismissed, Scott felt he dodged a bullet and knew he could not afford to make anymore mistakes, while Ralph knew it was game time and refused to let his team hold him back. Ramsay's comment: "I'd like to think every chef has a talent. Chris needs to keep looking for his." Category:Episodes Category:Season 12